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Month: March 2018

The Lakers were fined Tuesday for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule stemming from an interview with Magic Johnson on Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He’s special, Johnson said. A man that can handle the basketball like he can and be a great �� he’s probably the greatest athlete we have in the league today. And then his understanding, his basketball IQ is off the chart. He not only can score for himself, but also he can pass that basketball like a point guard. So when you think about all the skills that he has, block shots, rebound, can put the ball on the floor, can score, can assist, can make the pass.

We’ve never had anybody in the league like him. And also too, he’s like the number one �� he’s right up with LeBron, with KD and Steph [Curry] as the entertainer. He’s an entertainer so people will go see him.

The Lakers have tabbed a few big players in the upcoming free agent markets as they look to bolster their young roster. Antetokounmpo won’t become a free agent until 2021, and Johnson did say he would lead the Bucks to a championship, but the league obviously didn’t like the interaction between Johnson and the Bucks’ All-Star forward.

Ussery, who was Mark Cuban’s right-hand man until joining Under Armour in 2015, become CEO of the Mavericks in 1997 �� complaints of inappropriate workplace behavior within the Mavs began just shortly after.

The Mavericks claim they did not know of the misconduct until recently.

The Mavericks organization takes these allegations extremely seriously, the team’s statement read. Yesterday we notified the league office and immediately hired outside counsel to conduct a thorough and independent investigation.

In response, the Mavericks suspended an employee whose job it was to to receive and investigate such misconduct complaints until the investigation is completed.

Dallas also revealed, in a separate development, an employee misled the organization about a prior domestic violence incident. The employee has since been fired.

I want to deal with this issue, Cuban told SI. I mean, this is, obviously there’s a problem in the Mavericks organization and we’ve got to fix it. That’s it. And we’re going to take every step. It’s not something we tolerate.

Lopez experienced a lot during his time with the Nets. He went from playing in front of a passionate fan base in New Jersey to playing in front of an initially unenthusiastic hipster crowd in Brooklyn. He saw the franchise go from mid-seed playoff contender to embarrassingly bad lottery squad. His name was in trade rumors no matter how the team was doing.

Almost half of Russell’s shots have come from midrange, a high number for a perimeter player, per Cleaning The Glass. Russell has a habit of gaining inside position with a shifty move, and then giving the advantage right back by slowing down, picking up his dribble and bricking a fading midranger:

When he came out of the NCAA racket, scouts feared Russell lacked the athleticism to get to the rim and finish. That was mostly true in his first two seasons. He has solved the finishing part so far in Brooklyn — Russell has hit 69 percent in the restricted area, an elite number — but he’s not getting there nearly enough. Brooklyn scores at a league-worst level when Russell runs the show solo, without Spencer Dinwiddie at his side, per NBA.com. Let’s not mention his defense.

Russell is still so young, and point guards develop in fits and starts. That same instinct to slow down with the ball serves Russell well when he uses it to pin defenders on his hip, keep his dribble alive, and probe. He has good vision, and projected before this season as someone who could hit pull-up 3s.

The Texans have more than $56 million of cap space, and they need to spend most of it to fill holes on both sides of the ball. Houston doesn’t have a first- or second-round pick in the draft, so the team will need to address its glaring needs along the offensive line and in the secondary through free agency. The Texans might not have to spend much to keep any of their own players, so expect most of it to go to external options. — Sarah Barshop

Talent like Kirk Cousins doesn’t hit the open market all that often. The Vikings need to shoot their shot to land the quarterback, but even if they get outbid, they’ll need to play their cards right with Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Bradford and work out a deal to re-sign one (or more). With roughly $57 million in available cap space, the Vikings can be as aggressive as they want when looking for a quarterback.

Bradley’s numbers might not cause anyone’s jaw to immediately drop, but anyone who has seen the combo guard play in person knows how valuable he is on both ends of the floor. That’s especially true among NBA players: John Wall, Isaiah Thomas and CJ McCollum have all said Bradley is one of the best defenders they’ve ever faced. In 2016, GMs voted him as the second-best perimeter defender in the league, behind only Kawhi Leonard.

Aaron Gordon and almost every other player on the Magic: No one is safe in Orlando. The Magic have been quietly gauging the trade market for Aaron Gordon, the 22-year-old forward leading the team in points per game (18.4). This is a bad team with no concerns about contending in the near future, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Orlando puts the entire roster on the market, with the exception of rookie Jonathan Isaac.

Not only does Ball do the right thing initially by helping off Gary Harris to tag Mason Plumlee on the roll, he reads the play perfectly by anticipating Jamal Murray’s pass to Harris and picking it off mid-flight. It shows that he understands where he needs to be as a help defender and how he can use his physical tools to create transition opportunities for himself and his teammates.

Fournette made an instant impact in Jacksonville. He gave the Jaguars a big-time running back behind Blake Bortles, and that formula helped carry the franchise to the AFC championship game. Fournette was the worth the high price on draft day.

Charlotte Hornets: No player in the NBA has made more 3-pointers per game in the past 30 days than Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, whose 4.3 3PG in that 13-game stretch is even better than that of James Harden (4.2) and Stephen Curry (4.1). In the past, Walker’s lack of 3-point prowess cost him fantasy value as a point guard, but those days are long gone. The seventh-year pro took his game up a notch with 2.2 3PG in 2015-16 and made 3.0 3PG last season. He is at 2.9 3PG this season.

Chicago Bulls: Kris Dunn played 20 minutes in his first game back from a concussion last Wednesday, and Bulls executive VP John Paxson said the young point guard is no longer on a minutes limit. He added that the team will be smart with how it uses Dunn in the next few games, so don’t be surprised if coach Fred Hoiberg eases Dunn back into a heavier workload.